Twenty-Seven

    "Oh, my God, I feel like I need a powerpoint to keep up with the drama that seems to follow you around everywhere," was the first thing Eloise said the moment she walked into Nora's room that weekend. Nora and Edison had been hanging out (with the door open per her mother's rules), which poor Eloise had unfortunately walked in on. "Oh, you two are actually together now? Or do I get to be the second family member to walk in on some discovering, dreadfully yearning makeout session?"

    "Eloise!" Nora exclaimed as she threw a pillow at her sister's head only for the girl to catch it. "Yes! We're together now! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

    The older girl shrugged, "I mean I mainly just wanted a hug considering I'm home for the summer and have not gotten nearly as much attention as is necessary for a satisfactory homecoming."

    "You're insane," the younger sister scoffed, but she still got up from the bed to give her sister a much needed hug. "I missed you, El. I'm glad you're back, especially since it's your turn to sit through a hot ass graduation ceremony and I hope you sweat as much as I did when you graduated."

    "Don't worry, I'll flip you off during your speech like you always said I would," the girl laughed, pretending to wipe imaginary tears off of her face. "God, one week? One fucking week. Ew. Oh, hello, I'm Eloise, by the way. Edison, right? You better treat her right or I swear to God you will regret every breath you ever take, got it?"

    Edison, now confused upon having the attention turned towards her, lost her words for a moment before saying, "Uh... yeah, got it. Nice to meet you. Yeah, it's Edison but you can call me Carolina if you want."

    "Oh, that's new!" Eloise exclaimed before turning back to her sister. "So, remind me smarty, Salutatorian or... Valedictorian?"

"Thanks to an A+ final essay in English... it's looking like it's gonna be valedictorian," Nora could hardly keep back the news, which was odd since her academic prowess was never something she showed off. In fact, she had almost slipped out of the top rank for a few weeks this semester, but thankfully her best friends and Edison gave her back her work ethic and reminded her what she was working for. Maybe her life wasn't going to be perfect and that was okay, but Nora would be damned if her grades weren't going to be. She could let go of some things, but not everything.

Edison looked surprised by this news, "Wait, you're our valedictorian?"

"I mean... I don't like to brag, but duh," Nora joked, turning back to face her girlfriend. That word still seemed foreign to her, like she couldn't believe it. For once, she could actually say that Edison was hers. Sure, labels didn't change much, but at the same time it meant everything.

"God, you're way out of my league," Edison sighed as she lay back on the bed, smiling to herself as she scrolled through her phone while letting the sisters get back to their moment.

Eloise's gaze darted back and forth between the two girls, "Is it like homophobic if I say this is weird? Because I swear that's not why this is weird for me, I would like to preface. All I'm saying is that our God-loving mother would never let Mason in your room, let alone on your bed and I am going to have some words with her about my rules from when I was a teenager because this younger child privilege cannot go unchecked."

"You're ridiculous," the blonde laughed openly as she pushed her sister out of her room, but not before giving her a hug. "Maybe win prom queen or valedictorian and she would have let you have boys in your room."

Her sister gasped melodramatically as she left the room, calling down the hallway as she walked towards her own room, "You bitch! I'd say not to let it get to your head but I can see your ego from space!"

Nora found herself giggling as she watched her sister enter her room before leaning against the wall and turning back to face Edison. Her girlfriend. She was never going to get over that. "Are you gonna run away now that you know I'm top bitch in our grade?"

"Nor," Edison smiled, sticking her tongue out slightly to tease, "I am never running away from you again."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Nora chuckled as she fell back onto the bed and the other girl wrapped her arms around her. She finally had everything she wanted and although it wasn't what she expected and maybe things with the future were far from perfect, it was all she cared about in the moment. Although the whole college thing was eating away at her, did Edison even know Nora was planning on going to New York? 3,000 miles away three months into a relationship would be kind of a killer, wouldn't it?

Edison seemed to realize how in her own head she was. Nora wondered if she had some sort of thinking face since everyone always seemed to notice when she was chronically overthinking.

"What's on your mind, Nor?" Edison questioned with a furrowed brow and confusion drawn across her expression. Her face was laced with concern as she looked almost nervous.

The girl sighed, knowing she had to get this off her chest. She didn't need to get what she wanted only to have something eating away at her the whole time she had it. At least she was starting to recognize when her overthinking became more harmful than helpful.

"You know I'm going to New York for college, right? I got into NYU," she forced the words out of her throat as she tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth and avoided eye contact with her significant other. Knowing she had to get this out sooner or later didn't make it any easier to actually get the words out. She took note of how Edison's expression froze and she could have sworn the girl stopped breathing for a moment.

After a moment of silence that had Nora fearing for the worst, Edison, surprisingly, smiled. "You know, there are three schools I got into that I was considering. Boise State, surprisingly, UCSD, and Sarah Lawrence. I was going to commit to San Diego, but my brother actually convinced me to get out of the California sun."

"So what you're telling me is...?"

"Nora, I'm going to Sarah Lawrence. In Bronxville," Edison explained with a bright smile on her face, "If I'm correct that's maybe an hour long drive from NYU? I could be wrong on that, but it's definitely not 3,000 miles. I know that one for sure."

Nora was in shock, she didn't know how to think or how to speak. All she could get out of her mouth was, "No fucking way. There's no way. You're fucking with me, right?"

"Would you like me to show you my acceptance letter or something?" the girl joked, but Nora was too overwhelmed with joy.

Okay, maybe Nora would accept just a little bit of perfection in her life. She had a real chance of happiness with Edison and now, it was a real chance that didn't have a ticking time bomb underneath it which felt like a giant weight being lifted off of her chest. Someone needed to pinch her because Nora was fairly sure she was dreaming at this point.

"I can't believe this," was all Nora could say, the smile on her face was impossible to wipe off. "I can't..."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Edison laughed as she bit her lip. Nora nodded. "I only applied to Sarah Lawrence because Kat Stratford wanted to go there in 10 Things I Hate About You. I didn't think I was gonna get in at all. That's also my favorite movie, by the way?"

"Your favorite movie is a rom-com? Not some weird edgy foreign movie? Who are you?" the girl teased, moving to press a kiss to her girlfriend's cheek. However, at the last moment Edison had other ideas and turned her face so their lips met.

It was official, Nora was going to lose her mind because of this girl. In the best way possible, of course. It took Nora's life falling apart in order for her to realize that she wanted more. Mason was never going to be it for her and maybe Edison wasn't either, this was high school after all, but she was certainly happier than she had been with her ex-boyfriend. Nothing about her final months as a senior had gone the way she planned, but somehow everything worked out all right and that was more than she could have ever asked for. She had to lose everything to find herself; as cliche as that sounded. It was the truth. She threw away what people expected of her and became who she wanted to be. Just like she wrote about.

"Get out of your head," Edison giggled and it sounded like her favorite melody. "Stop thinking so hard and just kiss me."

Nora's lips curled into a sly smile as she shrugged, "Don't have to tell me twice."